Working for the Italian National Trust
By Alex Fice, Italian editor
I am a fourth-year student at Downing College studying Italian and Spanish, and during my Year Abroad I spent four months in Milan working with a non-profit organisation for Italian cultural heritage called FAI. In my first year, the thought of doing a year abroad was fairly terrifying. At the time, it represented a year when I would be forced to miss out on valuable time with friends in Cambridge, missing 21st birthdays and graduations, and it was easy to think that it could be a very lonely and isolating experience. In reality, this has not been the case and I hope that any students contemplating their own year abroad might take comfort from hearing that this might just be one of the most rewarding experiences of your degree.
FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano – is the National Trust for Italy and looks after historic buildings, art collections, and the environment throughout Italy. I first became interested in doing a work placement with FAI when my Italian teacher showed my class a picture of a stunning villa on Lake Como that has been used in James Bond and Star Wars films and said, ‘you could work here’. I was sold on the idea of working in an Italian villa for four months, and eventually decided on a 1930s villa in Milan surrounded by beautiful gardens with its own swimming pool. Here, I gave guided tours of the house (usually in English) and undertook other, smaller tasks such as supervising the temporary art exhibition in the attic. There was a lot of information to learn, and I did this by following tours done by other guides in English or Italian. I have lost count of how many times I have done that hour-long tour! But eventually I started doing my own tours, and that was a very rewarding experience.
The beautiful private swimming pool in the grounds of Villa Necchi Campiglio (credit: Alex Fice)
Something that has surprised me from doing guided tours is how you have to be prepared to act. I’ve noticed that the best tour guides put on a bit of a performance – and the more convincing it is, the more responsive the audience will be. Tour guides have their own lines, a set in which to perform, and a live audience right in front of them – so it really isn’t that different from performing in a play. I have never thought of myself as an actor – I’ve never been drawn to performing in the Footlights or at the ADC – but I have been surprised at my automatic reaction to being put in front of a group of people, becoming smiley and animated even if just moments before I was feeling tired and lacking the motivation to do a tour. I’ve also learnt that your audience (or group of visitors) can really influence how good or bad that performance is. It’s amazing how a lack of response from your group can affect your confidence and make you stumble over your words, even if just an hour before you had done a brilliant tour with a very enthusiastic group of visitors.
I’ve also noticed myself acting in other ways, especially when speaking Italian. You just can’t speak Italian like an English person speaking English! With time, you pick up on specific intonations of voice, body language, and (especially in the case of Italian) hand gestures. I once found myself trying to explain Brexit over an espresso after lunch (Italians love hearing about our politics, because theirs aren’t much better!) and found myself doing the classic Italian hand-gesture where your thumb touches your index and middle finger and you shake your hand back and forth as if to say, ‘what is going on?!’. I didn’t even notice I was doing it until a colleague pointed it out. Even if it feels like you are parodying stereotypes, I think it is important to let yourself absorb these specific mannerisms and the more theatrical elements that come with learning a language abroad.
Milan Cathedral at sunset, Piazza del Duomo
As well as learning a language and getting work experience, the year abroad also offers the chance to immerse yourself in a completely different culture and lifestyle. Highlights of my life in Milan have involved drinking delicious coffee and eating freshly-made pastries for breakfast, discovering new parts of the city by myself and with friends, exploring museums and art galleries, day trips to the Italian Lakes and cities in the North of Italy, singing Verdi with an Italian choir, going to the opera and sharing aperitivo with friends. In Milan, happy hour doesn’t mean 2-for-1 drinks, but a full buffet included in the price of your cocktail. I have no complaints!
I hope that this article may be comforting to any first or second year students facing a year abroad in the near future – I know that it can seem daunting, but by choosing to spend your time doing things that genuinely get you excited at the thought of them you will be sure to have a good time. It’s only a year at the end of the day, so best to make the most of it!
